Riddle Me This
by Talesoftwofairies
Summary: Lucy and Natsu face a mage who uses riddle based magic. Lucy assumes she'll be the main opponent, but it turns out Natsu is smarter than he looks. Much to Lucy's frustration.


_Christine's note: My first time writing NaLu! This one goes out to my blog partner Shelbi, who hates riddles just as much as I love them!_

_Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima_

* * *

"How about…. That leaf?"

"Nope!"

"That bush?"

"Nah!"

"The grass?"

"Nuh uh!"

"I give up, Natsu," Happy sighed. "What is it?"

"Your green bandana!" Natsu declared triumphantly, pointing at the cloth around the cat's neck.

"What!?" Happy cried, picking up his scarf to examine it. "I can't spy this! That's cheating!"

"Too bad, I win!" Natsu threw up his fists in victory. "I get to go again! Okay okay, I spy –"

"NO MORE GAMES!" Lucy shouted at the two, hands over her ears. The three of them were traveling along a dirt road towards a far off village. Natsu and Happy entertained themselves by playing I spy, which wouldn't have been a big deal...

If it hadn't gone on for an hour now.

"Ugh, but Lucy," Natsu groaned, kicking at a pebble. "We're so bored! This mission you chose doesn't even sound fun!"

"Wha – yes it does!" Lucy said, miffed. She dug the mission poster out of her bag and brought it up to Natu's face. It read: _The Divine Jester, annoying criminal that has been harassing our town using illusions and sorcery. NEED INTELLIGENT MAGE TO GET RID OF HIM._

"Boring!" Happy affirmed, flying lazily over the duo.

Lucy "hmphed" and shoved the poster back into her bag.

"Why did you even need us to come?" Natsu asked, slouching as he walked.

"Because!" Lucy grinned, with a sparkle in her eye. "I'm the wits, and you are the brawn! Together we can defeat this guy!"

"Sounds to me like Lucy just wanted to show off." Happy whispered loudly.

"Th – that's not true!" Lucy objected, face heating up.

Okay, so maybe it was a little true. She probably could have taken this mission on her own. It was just, sometimes, Lucy got tired of being side-lined in battles. Yeah, she knew that she was an asset to the guild, and that her thinking often got them out of sticky situations. But it wasn't as….exciting. For once, Lucy wanted to be the star of the show, the hero. That's why, when Lucy saw this mission on the request board this morning, she got so excited. It was an opportunity for her to be the center of attention. Maybe it was a bit selfish of her to think that way….but it was just gonna be this one time! And besides, it wouldn't hurt Natsu to be in the background for once.

"Okay, how about this," Lucy said, clasping her hands. "We can pass the time by telling riddles! I'll start: What has four legs in the morning –"

"Riddles are boring too!" Natsu whined, clutching his head. "Can't we just spar, or something!?"

"Not every battle can be won with fists, Natsu." Lucy sighed.

Natsu just grumbled something incoherently.

"Battles can't be won with riddles, either." Happy remarked under his breath.

Lucy stuck out her tongue and turned back to the road ahead of them. Just up ahead, a small town could be seen.

"Ah! There it is!" Lucy said excitedly, pointing. "We're here!"

"Great. I'm so excited." Natsu said sarcastically.

Lucy ignored him and started running. "Let's go!"

Within a few moments, the three of them found the mayor, who was so grateful for their help. He informed them that this mage had been irritating the townspeople for weeks; using illusions to cheat them out of money, causing confusion amongst the residents and generally being a nuisance. They were pointed to the direction he would most likely be.

The three Fairy Tail mages wandered the empty streets searching for the criminal. The townspeople were ordered to stay inside until the mage was apprehended. It was almost spooky how quiet it was.

"Any sign of him?" Lucy asked, with a hand to her forehead.

"I'unno. I haven't been looking." Natsu said, arms crossed over his head.

"Natsu! Be serious!" Lucy growled at him.

"Alright, alright," Natsu moaned. He turned to his partner. "Happy, let's go!"

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed. He took Natsu by the shirt and flew him up into the air. While up there, Lucy saw him scan the town. His eyes landed on something, and he motioned to Lucy. "Lucy! Over there!"

Together, the three of them ran through the streets. They skidded to a stop at a small clearing. A man stood hunched over a water well, his back facing them. He was dressed in a bright yellow jumper, with some ridiculous hat that had two prolonged peaks tipped with bells.

Lucy took a step forward. "Are you the Divine Jester?" She asked in an authoritative voice.

"Well well well," The man said, not turning around. "What do we have here?"

"We are Fairy Tail mages," Lucy answered, hand to her chest. "We've been ordered to stop you– "

"Not you dear, I was talking to the well," The man said, turning towards her and revealing a face white with makeup, and a red nose and cheeks. He gestured to the waterhole in front of him. "Can't you tell?"

"Uh." Lucy faltered, not expecting that response. Behind her, Natsu and Happy snickered.

Lucy gritted her teeth and tried again. "You've bothered this town long enough, surrender now and we won't hurt you!"

"Surrender? Why, that's no fun." The man pouted, taking a seat on the well. He put his hands together and grinned. "What if we play a game instead?"

"We know about your tricks," Lucy said, pointing at him. "And we're not falling for them!"

The man inclined his head, smile dropping. "Oh? Clever mages, are we?"

Lucy blinked, and then she placed her hands on her hip, smirking. "Well, I _am_ one of the smartest mages of our guild."

She could almost hear Natsu and Happy roll their eyes behind her.

"Great," The Divine Jester grinned wickedly. "Then this will be fun. In fact, it'll be… a blast."

Before Lucy could respond, a loud bang exploded in front of her, knocking her back. The last thing she heard was Natsu yelling her name before everything went black.

* * *

Lucy wasn't sure how much time had passed when she woke up. The only thing she saw was that everything was white. Blindingly white. Was she in a hospital?

Lucy groaned. No, she was on a cold, hard floor.

She slowly sat up, trying to blink her vision back. Everything still appeared white. No wait, everything _was _white. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. Lucy looked around; she was in a small enclosed white room. No doors or windows. Just where the heck –

"Natsu!" Lucy cried suddenly. The said mage lay unconscious a few yards away from her. She got up and ran towards him.

"Natsu!" Lucy kneeled next to him, shaking his shoulders. The dragonslayer blinked awake, and sat up, looking confused.

"What happened?" He asked, rubbing his head.

"The Divine Jester," Lucy muttered. "That's what happened."

Natsu's eyebrows creased as he looked around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Lucy sighed. "Probably in a warehouse of his. I can't believe I let him trick me."

"Don't worry, Lucy," Natsu said, getting up and stretching. "We'll beat this guy no –"

Natsu froze mid-sentence. He looked around wildly. "Wait, where's Happy!?"

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. She was so distracted by the situation, she hadn't noticed the exceed's absence.

"HAPPY!?" Natsu yelled, shoulders squared. "WHERE ARE YA, HAPPY!?"

Suddenly a giggle boomed from all around. "I see you've noticed your missing friend."

It was The Divine Jester's voice.

"You bastard!" Natsu roared at the walls. "What'd you do to Happy!?"

"Nothing at all!" The voice responded. "He's right here with me!"

A brief pause ensued, and then Happy's voice resounded through the room. "Natsu, Lucy, I'm here! I'm okay!"

Natsu's hands burst into flames. "GIVE BACK HAPPY!"

"Ah ah ah," The Divine Jester's voice returned. "This is a no fire zone!"

Natsu's fire suddenly vanished from his hands, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke.

"What the?" Natsu stared down at his hands. "I can't use my magic!?"

Lucy's eye widened and her hand flew to her waist. "My keys! They're gone!"

"Alright my fairies, now that we've set up the boundaries, let's start the game, shall we?"

"We're not playing until you give Happy back!" Natsu growled.

"Correction!" The Divine Jester said. "You're not getting him back _until _you play the game. But worry not; no harm will come to your cat. This is just some incentive to play along."

"Alright Jester, what's your game!?" Lucy demanded.

"Why, I'm so glad you asked!" He sounded giddy.

A door suddenly materialized onto the wall in front of them.

"This will be a game of wits," The voice started. "Each riddle you answer correctly will lead you to the next room. Answer all five correct, and you'll win. Get a question wrong and well… Let's just try not to do that.

"But be warned, fairies. Each room increases in difficulty. Good luck."

Lucy turned to Natsu, grinning determinedly. "Don't worry Natsu, I'll be the one to get us out of here and save Happy, just you watch!"

Natsu stared at her a moment, before folding his arms and protruding his lower lip. "You make it sound like I won't be any help. I'm smart too, ya know."

"Of course, of course!" Lucy waved his comment away. She clenched her fists. "But this is a game of wits! It is my area of expertise! Now let's go!"

Confidently, Lucy crossed the room and pushed open the door, entering the next room. This room ended being very similar to the one behind them. Save for the giant message on the wall in front of them.

Lucy read the message out loud. "The rich need me, and the poor have me. But if you eat me, you will die. What am I?"

A riddle! This would be easy. Lucy smirked, and furrowed her brows, mentally working it out. What would the poor have that the rich need?

"Nothing!" The voice next to her exclaimed.

"Huh!?" Lucy whipped her head to Natsu.

Suddenly, the words on the wall faded. A door materialized in its place. Lucy's gawked at it.

"Hey look, I was right!" Natsu said excitedly.

"But – I," Lucy looked back and forth from the door to Natsu. "How did you know that!?"

"Because I can eat anything!" Natsu declared, pointing a thumb to his chest. "The only food that will kill me is no food at all!"

Lucy blinked, and then chuckled while shaking her head. "Of course you would think that way, Natsu. Okay, you got lucky this time, but you have to be careful. A wrong move could risk Happy."

Natsu snorted, and folded his arms behind his head. "Yeah, yeah."

Together, Lucy and Natsu entered the next room. Just as the previous room, the ceiling, walls, and floor were stark white. But this time, a table stood in the center of a room. Atop the table was a golden scale with two pans and a basket filled with metallic spheres.

They approached the table. Lucy picked up one of the spheres to examine it. It fit perfectly in her palm. Natsu poked at the scale, pushing down one pan as the other rose.

"Welcome to challenge two!" The Jester's voice thundered, causing Lucy to almost drop the sphere.

"Of these nine spheres, one is slightly heavier, too minuscule to detect by hand. Only the scale will reveal the oddity."

"Ha!" Natsu exclaimed. "That's eas-"

"But it may only be used twice."

Natsu deflated. "Oh."

"Find the heaviest one, and you may continue your path. Best of luck, fairies."

"Okay!" Lucy grinned, rubbing her hands. "Stand aside Natsu, let the brains work her magic!"

"Pfft," Natsu picked up two spheres, testing their weight. "I got the first one by myself alright."

"That was just luck," Lucy insisted, picking up two spheres herself. "This one will take actual puzzle-solving skill."

Lucy studied the two spheres in her hand. Using the scale to weigh one against one is out of the question because of their limited amount of uses. However, the pans were big enough to carry more than one.

"So we just need to weigh some, right?" Natsu asked, about to place a sphere on one of the pans.

"Natsu, don't!" Lucy screeched, snatching the sphere out of Natsu's hands. "We can't waste any uses!"

Natsu scowled at Lucy and opened his mouth to retort, but then he did a double take at the sphere's in Lucy's hands.

Lucy quirked a brow. "What?"

"Lucy! That's it!" Natsu exclaimed, gesturing to spheres in her arms.

Lucy looked down. She had three spheres cradled in her arms, including the one she took from Natsu. But what did that have to do with anything? She looked back up to Natsu, who was grinning widely.

"We gotta separate them into three groups! Lucy, you're a genius!" He appraised.

Lucy's eyebrows drew together. Three groups? But then how would –

Wait.

"If we separate them into three groups," Lucy said slowly, staring down at the scale. "Then we can weigh two of the groups against each other. And if both groups those weigh the same, then it's the remaining group that contains the outlier…"

"And then we can repeat the process with those three!" Natsu finished.

Lucy blinked at the at the dragon slayer. "That was… really impressive, Natsu."

"Heh!" Natsu grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "But I bet you had figured that from the start."

"Oh – um, right. Of course." Lucy stammered, not meeting his eyes.

"Anyways, let's get started." Natsu said cheerfully, taking more spheres out of the basket.

As they followed the procedure, Lucy felt a thought nagging at her. That was strange. It was almost as if Natsu had figured out the riddle before her. It couldn't be that Natsu was…

Lucy shook her head. No, of course not. This was Natsu she was talking about. The same Natsu who thought he could stop a hurricane by punching it. There was no way he outdid Lucy. It had to be a fluke.

After they finished, Natsu held up a sphere in his hands. "Here it is! The heavier one!"

Suddenly, the sphere faded out of Natsu's hand, along with the table and the scale. A door became visible at the usual place, signifying their victory.

Natsu cheered and practically pranced to the door. Lucy followed behind, at a slower pace. Natsu swung the door open and waited for Lucy to walk through.

Once again, the next chamber was very similar to the previous rooms; however, this time they were not alone. Against the back wall, two bright yellow figures stood. Both of which were The Divine Jester.

Natsu's grin immediately dropped and he stepped in front of Lucy, arm stretched out protectively.

"At ease, fairies," The two spoke together. "We are but a projection."

Lucy walked around Natsu's arm and approached the two. The contrast of their bright jumper against the white wall almost hurt to look at. "Alright, what's the next riddle, Jester?"

Both projections stepped aside to reveal two doors behind them.

"One of these doors will lead to the next room." One Divine Jester said

"And the other will lead to your doom." The other jester continued.

"Only we know which door it is."

"But one of us only answers in truth."

"And the other only in lies."

"You may only ask one question." They said together. Then they adopted the same stoic expression, staring straight ahead.

Lucy couldn't suppress the smile from lighting her face. Okay, this time there was no chance of a fluke. It was time to prove her skill. Lucy grabbed her chin with one hand. This was a bit tougher than the previous challenges. But all it took was a bit of logical reasoning. Obviously, they can't just ask one which door was the correct path because there would be no way to guarantee it was the truth speaking one, so the –

"Lucy," Natsu whispered loudly. "Which one is the lying one, again?"

"That's the point, Natsu," Lucy muttered back. "We don't know. We have to ask the right question."

"Ohhhhhhhh." Natsu's eyes widened.

Lucy rolled her eyes and continued. If they were to ask an obvious question, like what was the color of the sky, they could identify the lying one, but then they wouldn't be able to ask him which door was the correct door. The trick was to ask a question that would get both the liar and the truth teller to answer the same–

"Hey you!" Natsu said, pointing at the right one. "I got a question for ya!"

Panic flashed through Lucy's chest like a lightning bolt. "Natsu, no!"

"If I were to ask the other one which door led to the next room, which one would he point to?"

Lucy's jaw dropped. Silence echoed in the room.

Wordlessly the projection lifted one hand and pointed to the door on the left.

"Aha!" Natsu grinned, hands on his hips. He turned to Lucy. "You're right Lucy, this is fun!"

Lucy's jaw was still slack. This was no coincidence. Natsu was actually solving these riddles. Before her! How is this possible!?

Slowly Lucy walked towards the indicated door, trying to reason with herself. Maybe Natsu was just got lucky three times in a row? That was a possibility, ri –

A hand latched onto her wrist "Whoa Lucy, what are you doing!?"

Lucy whipped her head to the Dragon Slayer. "I'm going into the next room!" She snapped.

"No, that's the wrong door!"

Lucy furrowed her brows. "But this is the one he pointed to!"

"No, no, no," Natsu shook his head. "He's pointing to the wrong one. We have to take the opposite door."

Lucy stared at him. She tilted her head. "Huh?"

"See, because I asked him to answer for the other one," Natsu began, gesturing to the projection. "So if that's the truth telling one, he's gonna point to the wrong one, since that's what the lying one would do. But if that was the liar I was asking, then he would point to the wrong one anyways, because he's a liar!"

Lucy gaped at the mage in front of her. That logic… actually made sense?

"Okay, that's it!" Lucy yelled. "What is going on here, Natsu! How are you getting these?!"

Natsu looked at Lucy with raised eyebrows. Then, he grinned at her gloatingly. "What? Are you upset that I'm winning? That I'm _smaaaaaaaaaarter_ than you?"

Lucy reeled back, feeling heat crawl up her face. "No! That's not – you're not –" She gave a frustrated yell and threw her hands up in the air. "Forget it! Let's just get on to the next room!"

She stomped over to the door, the correct one, and shoved it open. She walked in and was taken aback by what was inside. This room had the most props so far. There was a fountain, two barrels and a giant silver goblet.

"Eh?" Natsu said from behind her. "A fountain?"

He walked ahead of Lucy and eyed the giant goblet. Its height came up to Natsu's waist. He waved to Lucy. "Hey Lucy, come look at this!"

Lucy walked over and peered at the goblet. Imprinted into the side was: _4.0 GALLONS WATER_.

"All we need to do is fill it with that fountain water!" Natsu explained. He rushed over to one of the barrels. He peeked inside. "Three gallons, nope." He looked at the other one. "Five gallons? Wait…" Natsu put a hand to his chin.

After a moment of holding this pose, he slammed a fist into his open palm. "I get it! To get four gallons all we have to do is – "

"NO!" Lucy yelled, cutting him off. "No, no, no!"

"What?" Natsu twisted to face her, confusing etching his face.

"No!" Lucy repeated, anger seeping into her tone. She had enough. She wasn't going to let Natsu show her up, not this time. She marched over to him and pushed at his shoulders, forcing him to scuffle until he was a good three yards away. "I'm solving this one! You stay over here!"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head, regarding her bewilderedly. "Um….okay. Whatever you say, Lucy."

Lucy nodded with a huff, and then trudged back to the barrels and fountains.

"Okay Lucy," She told herself. "You can do this. This is your strength!"

With fire in her eyes, Lucy grabbed the closest barrel, the five gallon one.

"Alright! Just have to fill this one up." Lucy said as she dunked the barrel into the fountain. She lifted it back up, grunting a bit at the added weight.

"Okay, okay, and then," She turned to the three gallon one. Slowly she lifted the larger barrel over the smaller and let the water flow in. "Pour it into the smaller one and – oh!"

She stopped when the smaller barrel began to overflow. "Okay! Now the three gallon is full, and there's two gallons in the five gallon barrel, so now I – "

Lucy frowned. "Um. Now I…" She looked to the fountain uncertainly. "Empty the five gallon?"

"KRRM, KRHM!" Natsu coughed loudly, from his spot.

Lucy whipped her head to the mage and snarled, "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, NATSU!"

Natsu folded his hands behind his back and whistled innocently.

Lucy grumbled and turned back to the barrels. "Okay. So then I… empty the smaller one."

She took the three gallon barrel and tipped it over the fountain, pouring the water out.

"Alright. Next thing is to…err. Wait. Fill the five gallon?"

"KHRM!"

"Fill the three – "

"KHRM KHRM!"

"POUR THE FIVE GALLON INTO THE THREE!" Lucy screeched.

Lucy waited, huffing.

Silence.

"Right!" Lucy concluded loudly, clapping her hands. She took the five gallon and poured it's two gallons of water into the three gallon barrel.

"Okay, so now that I have two gallons of water in the three gallon barrel, next thing I do is…"

She stared at the barrels. Wait. Maybe she needed to pour the two gallons back into the five?

"REFILL!– khrm– THE FIVE! –khrm khrm."

Lucy felt the rumble of a growl grow in her throat and she slowly turned to Natsu. He was rocking on his heels, pointedly not looking at her. She sighed as she turned back, and picked up the five gallon to refill it.

"Alright. I have two gallons in the three gallon barrel and I have a full five gallon barrel. I need to make four gallons…"

Lucy's eye's widened. "THAT'S IT!"

She took the full five gallon barrel and tipped it over the three gallon. As soon as the three gallon was full, Lucy stopped. She grinned, victoriously. "HAH! Four gallons of water!"

Lucy eagerly carried the barrel over to the goblet. With a grunt, she lifted it just enough tip the barrel over the goblet to pour in its contents.

After she finished, she took a step back, waiting anxiously.

The goblet faded into nothing, and a door appeared on the wall a few yards ahead.

"YES!" Lucy cheered, bouncing. "I DID IT!"

"Good job, Lucy!" Natsu congratulated, coming up from behind her.

"Heh," Lucy grinned, folding her arms. "That was a tough one, but I got it."

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed, clapping her back. "Well, that was the easier of the two ways, but you did it!"

Lucy froze, her smile twitched. "E…easier?"

"Yeah!" Natsu nodded, hands on his hips. "If you wanted to do it the _other_ way, what you would have done was fill the three gallon bucket, pour that into the five gallon bucket, refill the three gallon again, then pour it into the five gallon again, then empty out the five gallon, pour the one gallon from the three gallon into the five gallon, then fill the three gallon again and pour it into the five gallon, giving you four gallons!"

He turned to Lucy, grinning. "But your way was simpler. Less steps."

Lucy just gaped. She felt her soul spill out of her body, and on to the floor, blowing away in the imaginary wind. Slowly, Natsu's smile faded, and he blinked at her expression. Then he furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Uh, everything okay, Lucy?

Lucy collapsed to the ground, her knees smacking the floor.

"Lucy?!"

"I give up."

"What!?"

"I give up," She repeated weakly, staring at the ground. "I haven't been able to solve a single one of these riddles." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm really useless after all."

"What are you talking about!?"

"I'm not that strong, physically or magically. And it turns out, I'm not even strong mentally either."

"What!? No!" Natsu objected. Lucy felt his hands reach under her arms and pull her up to her feet. "That's not true at all! You're totally strong!"

Lucy snorted and looked away.

"Being able to solve riddles doesn't mean anything, Lucy. It never comes in handy in battle. Er - except for right now, I guess, but other than that it's useless!"

Lucy was silent, refusing eye contact.

Natsu's hands suddenly slammed down on her shoulders. Lucy looked up in surprise. "Alright, listen up, Lucy. The problem here is _you_!"

Lucy stared incredulously, before glowering. "Yes, Natsu. Thank you for reiterating what I said."

"No, I mean," Natsu's hands dug into his head, as if searching for the right word. "The issue is your _attitude_."

Lucy sighed, hand on her forehead. "Just, get to the point, Natsu."

"You came here because you wanted to prove your intelligence," He started, gesturing with his hands. "But that's not how you work! You're not the show off type! The times that your strength shows are when you _need_ it. Like, during the grand magic games, or on Tenrou Island. This right now, this is just a game. This doesn't mean anything. This isn't where your strength lies. I know, because I've seen how strong you are."

Lucy was silent as she took in Natsu's words. He was looking at her intently, waiting for her response. It amazed Lucy, when Natsu had these moments of clarity. It would remind her that Natsu was more than a hot-headed mage. That he was observant, thoughtful and motivating. It was this side of Natsu that inspired Lucy to be better, to be stronger, to be the best comrade that she could be. It reminded her why she wanted to be a Fairy Tail mage. She felt a fondness grow in her chest.

"Ahh," Lucy chuckled weakly, putting a hand to her face. "You're right. You're completely right. I was acting selfish. I just wanted to be in the spotlight. I'm so sorry, Natsu."

Natsu's face melted into a smile. He rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh, well. I'll admit, I was trying to outdo you."

Lucy just grinned and rolled her eyes. "Of course you were, Natsu."

"Let's finish this up, Luce. Together."

"Mmm!" Lucy nodded.

With a new sense of peaceful confidence, Lucy and Natsu strode over and pushed open the door leading to the final riddle.

For the last room, Lucy was expecting some sort of elaborate display, like a piano, mirror and a key or something. What she got instead made her strangely nervous.

It was empty. There was absolutely nothing in the room. No message, no props, and no Jester.

"Huh?" Natsu commented, wandering around. "That's weird. There's nothing here."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Lucy mumbled, feeling her heart pound in her chest.

"Aw, don't worry Lucy!" Natsu turned to her and stretched out his arms. "Maybe this just means we've won!"

And then he vanished out of sight.

"NATSU!?" Lucy screeched, the fear now exploding into her chest and lungs.

"Welcome my dear, to the final riddle!" The Divine Jester's voice boomed from all around.

"What did you do to Natsu!?" Lucy demanded, glaring into the ceiling.

"Why, I had to take him out," The voice answered. "For my final challenge, I take out the smarter player!"

The voice paused. "Which, honestly? I expected to be you, my dear."

Lucy hung her head. "Don't remind me…"

"Nevertheless," The Jester continued. "My final challenge is going to be a little… different."

Suddenly, Lucy's vision disappeared. Lucy gasped, clawing the air in front of her.

"Fear not, it's just a bandana."

Lucy let her hands go slack. "What's the final riddle, Jester?!"

"When I am done explaining, the three of you may remove your bandana." The voice started.

Three? Lucy frowned. What did he mean?

"Upon each of your heads will be a hat, either black or white. You may not speak unless you're answering the riddle, nor may you look at your own hat. The only hint I'll give is that at least one of you is wearing a white hat. The first one to correctly deduce the color of the hat on their head shall be named victor. May the real Lucy win."

Lucy felt the weight of a hat materialize on her head, and she reached up to pull down the cloth around her eyes. On either side of her, she saw two doppelgangers of herself, looking as confused as she felt. They were both wearing white hats.

Wait. Lucy looked from hat to hat, biting on her lip. Two white hats? The Jester's hint was that at least _one _hat was white. Did that mean hers was black?

Panic surged through Lucy. She couldn't do this. Not without Natsu. Obviously, he was more suited for these kinds of games. She may have had an aversion for his aptitude earlier, but now she felt desperate for his help.

This is it. Lucy was going to lose. She was going to fail the mission, fail her comrades, and who knows what else.

Stop. Lucy mentally chastised herself. Remember what Natsu said? She was strong. In times of need, she always pushed through and came out victor. And this was a time of need. She could do this!

She watched her clones for their expressions. They too looked baffled, eyes flying from her hat to each other's. Did they think they were the real Lucy? Was _she_ even the real Lucy?

Lucy shook her head. No time for that kind of thinking. She had to focus. The mission was at stake here. Natsu and Happy were at stake. What mattered was that these two were just as smart as she was, and just as capable. She needed to outsmart herself. She had to think in a way that she normally wouldn't. She needed to think outside the box.

Wait.

Lucy's eyes widened. That's it!

"I got it!" Lucy exclaimed. The other two Lucy's looked at her in alarm.

"Already?" The voice asked, in an amused voice. "Then pray tell, my dear, what is the color of your hat?"

Lucy grinned. "That's not important, is it Jester?"

The voice didn't answer right away. "Sorry?"

"What matters is the distraction." Lucy continued, grin widening.

"You're breaking the rules of the challenge," The voice warned. "If you continue to speak, you'll be disqualified!"

"I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner…."

"Your friends will suffer the consequences if you lose, my dear!"

Lucy laughed. "Natsu and Happy are completely fine," She pointed straight in front of her. "Because we're still in town!"

"Urk!"

Suddenly, the room around her dissipated, and the town came into view again. She was back at the well, where she found the Divine Jester. Who, was standing in front of the well, cowering in fear.

"Wha… what happened?" She heard Natsu groan from behind her.

"It was a charm, Natsu," Lucy explained, not taking her eyes off the mage. "The games were simply a distraction from reality. But I figured it out. You're powerless now, Jester."

"W – wait!" He lifted up his hands, sweating profusely. "I –If you let me go, I'll tell you the answer to the last riddle!"

"There's no need for that, I already know," Lucy smirked, whipping out her celestial keys. "My hat was white."

What followed was perhaps one of the quickest battles Lucy had ever partook in. Well. If you could even call it a battle. Apparently the man was all illusions, and had no physical ability whatsoever. One kick to the head by Loke, and the mage was out. Natsu and Lucy turned him into the magic council with no further issues and collected their reward from the mayor, who was extremely grateful for their help.

They were on their way home before the sun set. The sun glowed an orange color from behind them.

"So," Natsu said, as the two of them walked down the dirt path. Happy was snoozing on his shoulder. "How did you know what color your hat was?"

"What?" Lucy asked, in mock-surprise. "You couldn't figure it out?"

Natsu glared. "I answered the other four, if you recall."

Lucy chuckled. "It was pretty simple, actually. I figured the best case scenario would have been if the other two were wearing black hats. Then, I could obviously assume I was wearing the one white one. The next best scenario would be if I saw one black hat, and one white hat. If the Lucy wearing the white hat didn't immediately speak up, that would mean she doesn't see two black hats, and I must also be wearing a white hat. However, if I saw two white hats, and nobody spoke up after a certain period of time, then that must mean…"

"That everyone was wearing a white hat!" Natsu finished, with wide eyes. "That's genius, Lucy!"

"Well. You were right, Natsu," Lucy looked at him with a soft smile. "Once I stopped focusing on being _better_ and just concentrated on the mission, everything became clear."

"Yeah, you see!" He grinned, clapping her back. "You never needed to prove anything, Lucy. Everybody already knows you're amazing."

Lucy smiled shyly at him and turned back to face the path. When Natsu's hand lingered on her back, Lucy made no comment, only took a slight step closer to him. Only when Natsu's arm slid up to rest on her shoulder did Lucy sigh contently and lean her head on him, blushing.

_Christine's note: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the story! If you liked it, leave a review and let me know. I'd really appreciate it! :)_


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